Donna Summer was larger than life, and the queen of disco is now immortalized in a mural that, fittingly, is also larger than life — ten times larger.
The 50-by-60-foot mural runs along the side of Black Market in Nubian Square, 2136 Washington St. in Roxbury. It’s painted black with a massive white circle at the center spotlighting an iconic image of Summer with one shoulder raised.
The artist who painted it, Cedric “Vise1” Douglas, said he listened to Summer’s music throughout the process.
“I always try to listen to the music and get connected with them,” Douglas told GBH’s Morning Edition. “I think this [mural] captures her essence: Her hair is wild, she has that pose. As an artist and as a person from Boston, I want to highlight people that are underrepresented from the community, and that’s something that’s part of my work.”
Douglas said Summer is one of many Bostonians who made it big in music and should be recognized.
“She comes from here, we damn well should be celebrating her more and more and more. Monuments, murals, everything,” Douglas said. “And there’s other great people from Roxbury: New Edition, Bobby Brown, Guru from Gang Starr. Growing up, he was one of my favorite artists, knowing that he’s from Boston.”
But Summer’s accomplishments stand out, he said.
“She did three consecutive double albums and they — all three of them — went platinum. So that’s six albums. Platinum. Platinum. Platinum. Platinum. Platinum. Platinum,” Douglas said.
The mural is also meaningful for Summer’s sister, Mary Bernard.
“Boston was always loving towards Donna,” Bernard said. “But to see that there in that place just, I felt like this is what she would want.”
Summer was born in Mission Hill and grew up in Orchard Park as one of seven siblings. Bernard said Roxbury was full of people “hustling and doing their thing,” and that kids in the neighborhood didn’t have many positive role models. But Summer had big dreams.
“She used to tell everybody, ‘I’m going to be famous. Just watch, I’m going to be famous,’ till everyone in the entire neighborhood would say it: 'That girl’s gonna be famous,'” Bernard said. “She realized that there were kids like her who could look at her and maybe dream: 'I could be bigger than where I’m born. I could be bigger than the city.’”
Summer died in 2012. Bernard said she thinks her sister would have loved the mural.
“She was not a person with a lot of fancy,” Bernard said. “As big as she was, she wasn’t that person, but she would know what that would mean to kids who live in that area, like the hope that it would bring in. ... It was like she actually got recognition from the people she loved.”
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